Background and career
Leyla Islam qizi Yunusova (née Vəliyeva; Azerbaijani: Leyla İslam qızı Yunusova; born 21 December 1955), better known as Leyla Yunus, is an Azerbaijani human rights activist and the director of Institute of Peace and Democracy, a human rights organisation. She is particularly known for her work helping citizens affected by forced evictions in Baku, on whose behalf she has organized several small protests.
She was one of the founders of the modern Popular Front party.
In July 2014, the Azerbaijani authorities jailed Yunus on fraud and tax evasion charges, which are widely regarded as dubious. After being sentenced to 8.5 years in jail on 13 August 2015, Leyla Yunus was released on grounds of her deteriorating health on 9 December 2015, with a court converting her sentence into a suspended one.
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